Reckoning of a Disaster
by SaikouTLK
Summary: Promestein, the angel who gave fire to humans. W.D. Gaster, the mystery man shattered through space-time. The two greatest minds of these two fictional multiverses meet up to protect reality as a whole. However, their alliance will lead to much more sinister events than both of them could have imagined up until that point.
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

Darkness... For as far as I can see, nothing but the empty darkness of this timeless space. As time is but a static image for me, I cannot tell how long I've been here. But still, I've gotten used to this darkness and silence, but not to those visions. Occasionally, my mind shows me pieces of events from history. I see the war against the humans, I see the crowning of King Asgore Dreemur, I even see my own death at the hand of my creation, the CORE. As I've been reportedly shattered across space-time, this should be no surprise that I'm able to witness event all over our universe's timeline.

However, I've quickly come to notice some contradictions in my visions. The same child I've seen die against our queen in battle, also went on to live the rest of their life on the surface with their monsters friends. Seems like my hypothesis was right. Each time a reset is done using DETERMINATION, it creates a new timeline. My body was spread across all those timelines as well.

This has been that way for god knows how much time. By now I had come to term with the idea that I was never going to go back to normal. After all, if anything from these timelines would have saved me, it would have happened already. Although granted, something was bothering me at this moment. The visions had stopped. Not just stopped, but like I was being pulled away from their existence.

It was truly silent and dark for a few moment before a blindingly bright light covered all of my field of vision. When it finally faded away, it left behind a familiar sight. To my surprise, it wasn't limited to only sight, but all my others senses. It was the first time in ages I could use those again. It didn't take me long to realize that I wasn't exactly in the nicest position I could be in. I was in the middle of a laboratory test chamber. It seems like I was on a platform right in the middle of it. Clearly, all of the machinery around me was centered on the platform I was standing on.

Before I could take any step, four magic circles placed around the center focused all of their power on me, restraining my movements.

With this rather unpleasant situation at hand, I had to defend myself. But how? I had spent way too much time without fighting, even before my death. Although, there was still one creation of mine that could help me in this situation. With a small outburst of magic, four floating goat skulls were summoned around me. My good old Gaster Blasters still worked just fine despite being all the way across space-time. My four magic weapons charged up their lasers, and fired against the magic circles, releasing myself from their restraints. My freedom didn't last long, however, as I was captured by vines right before I even touch the ground.

"...Aren't you the violent one, Doctor Wingdings Gaster?", I heard, coming from seemingly everywhere in the room.

A strange creature with red fur on her head walked out of a nearby door, slowly approaching me. No… it wasn't a mere creature. It looked exactly like a human.

" ✌ ✡ ✍". I tried to talk to her, but only gibberish came out...I had forgotten about this. All skeletons of my kind possess a different "font" to speak in. But for myself, I suffer from a speaking disorder of sort. My font is completely unreadable, as such, no one can understand my speech without a translator.

"It seems like your speech is still as "quirky" as it was before. Do not move." I didn't have much of a choice here, considering the strength of the vines around me. The lady before me shoved a strange device into my mouth, strapping it to my spine. I couldn't even bite off what was in me. How strong was that woman?

"Mmh...There we go. It should work now. Speak." Releasing my throat, she stood there, hands in her pocket, visibly waiting for me to obey.

"...Damn you-Wait...What's this?!" My voice wasn't the usual gibberish. It was a clear and understandable sound. Not from an external translator, but directly from my throat.

-A Wingdings to Times New Roman translator. It makes communication easier, don't you think?

-...I guess so. Although I would appreciate knowing what you attempted to do on me earlier, alongside the context of my appearance back into a physical world.

-Now now. You will have all of your answers in time. But I can at least explain those Anti-Chaotization Magical Circles.

She starts walking back to the door while explaining her creations.

"Bringing back a being shattered across space-time back into a physical form isn't exactly a safe process. These Magical Circles were meant to stabilize your own space-time so that it wouldn't affect the universe in any negative way. While it did manage to protect reality, since you destroyed them half-way through the process, I can't guarantee your safety anymore." The thought of me returning to my non-existent state sent a shiver down my spine. After tasting freedom once again, I couldn't even imagine the possibility of going back.

Sheepishly, I followed my savior towards what seemed like an observation room. There, I was greeted by several others human-looking scientists. Although unlike the red-headed lady I first met, I feel far less magical energy coming off from them.

"Gentlemen. Our experiment was, as you can see, a success. Please welcome our new ally, Doctor Wingdings Gaster."

I was welcomed like a living scientific breakthrough into the room. The various scientists seemed to vary greatly in biology. Some were perfectly human-like, yet some had feathery and pure white wings, almost like angels. While others looked distinctively more monster-like, such as snake lower bodies or wings.

"...Although I'll have to dismiss you for the time being. The Man Who Speaks in Hands still needs to get used to this world."

As soon as she spoke, the room empties itself, leaving only the two us.

-Uh, how do you know about that nickname, "The Man Who Speaks in Hands"?

-I didn't decide to just to bring you here without doing proper researches. My team and I spent decades studying your Multiverse, although I doubt we know nearly as much as you.

That last sentence brought much confusion to me, who was forever limited to the idea of a single multiverse existing.

-"Your" multiverse? I'm afraid that's not possible. Through all of my research, I never even saw the smallest glimpse at what could be considered a hint of another reality existing beyond mine.

-The same could be said of any researcher bound to their own timeline, living their whole short life thinking that not even any other worlds beside their own planets exist. A sad reality of the human nature, their mindset is and will always be self-centered, thinking the world spins around their very existence."

-I guess you are a human then.

-I'm probably closer to a human than your kind is, that much is true, but that doesn't mean I'm one.

Her few last words were soon followed by her suddenly generating transparent wings and a halo of the same composition appearing on her head.

-I was originally an angel, the metaphysical antithesis to a monster. Although by now, I'm as much an angel as I am a monster.

-And may I know my purpose here, nameless lady?

She chuckles a disturbing laugh.

"My name is Promestein. I am the one who gave human fire, and the leader of the Seekers of Truth, an organization which the goal is to discover the truth of the universe...and beyond."

Her description of her so called organization sounded way too ambitious to be good. Searching for the truth of all things instead of focusing your research on useful discoveries for your own people. Science should be a mean, not a goal.

"I assume that you are attempting to add me to this organization? If so, you seem to misunderstand my goals. I'm not interested in some philosophical quest for knowledge. If I do what I'm doing, it's because I must, not just because I can. I value the safety of my people over satisfying my personal curiosity."

It was probably my first time since I got here that I managed to speak with certainty and confidence, perhaps I was getting used to all of this already.

Promestein didn't even bat an eye at my speech, keeping her collected and calm, almost cold, attitude.

"Oh, I'm not planning to force you to join. I want you to work for us. An exchange of technology between us, to help with our respective goals."

I raised a metaphorical eyebrow at her statement.

-I'm curious as to what I would be of help to you. From what I could witness for this brief period of time, your knowledge seems to have far surpassed mine. You taught me more in a few minutes than I learned in years through my own research.

-"You see, there is a limit to what I can learn when I'm stuck in this single universe. No one else than the smartest being in a neighboring multiverse could tell me more about its mechanics better.

-In my whole Multiverse, I was the smartest being you could get? None of the others vigintillions wise men in my multiverse who are far more advanced than me could fit the job?

-Knowledge and intelligence are two separate things. One can be fixed, the other can't. I'm certain that you have the potential to surpass any of them.

Being regarded as the smartest being among an almost infinite amount of scientist felt almost surreal to me. Although I wasn't very sure if that was just flattery on her part to try to get me on her side.

But honestly, I felt like I didn't have much choice here. Something about her gave me bad vibes. Beside, it's not like I couldn't have any use for her technology.

-Alright then. What kind of technology of mine would you need? Given good enough equipment, I could recreate some in a few weeks. Although large-scale constructions may take more time.

-I don't think I'd need a gigantic CORE here. I'm mainly interested in this "DT EXTRACTION" machine of yours.

The DT EXTRACTION… Out of all my inventions, it is the one I dread the most. In most, if not all timelines that I saw, it only brought suffering to both monsterkind and humankind. The worse of all being this...abomination. A horrible mixture of my creation, and a sociopathic flower. An eldritch creature that transcended space-time itself. In fact, due to its nature, it was one of the very few beings I could only see linearly, instead of being able to detect it across all of its history. It existed on the same level of time as me.

To give such a powerful weapon to a woman like her would probably be something I'd regret later. But at the moment, simply agreeing seemed like a better short term solution.

-Alright. If you wish, then I will comply.

-Good decision here. Without further waiting, I will lead you to your laboratory. Ah, by the way, you will work alongside one old friend of mine, I hope you don't mind~


	2. Chapter 2: The Call

I stepped foot outside the facility for the first time. Not only that, but it was the first time I saw the surface with my own eyes. Although it is far less beautiful and colorful than I remember seeing it as in my visions. This place was a completely barren and lifeless wasteland. Not a sign of vegetation, not even bacterias I'm sure. Huge white building growing out of a dead land. I guessed that most of those were research facilities.

"What happened to, well, everything? I'm not sure if the surface is supposed to look this dull."

Promestein was walking next to me with a feeling of pride before these structures. Unlike me, it looked like her steps didn't disturb the sandy ground of the area at all. She didn't felt corporeal at all.

"We simply got rid of it. Even the smallest virus or lifeform could greatly interfere with our genetic experimentation."

-So you destroyed all lifeforms within this ecosystem and possibly doomed your civilization for the lone sake of your experiments.

-False. Our civilization can sustain itself solely on alchemy and synthetization of required material. If the need arises, we can always recreate those environments.

She's toying with nature itself for the sake of her experiments. I guess that it's only the logical conclusion of a whole civilization based on scientific research.

I spend the rest of the walk in silence, observing my new environment. The night time gave the place a quite alien and surreal feeling, not unlike Waterfall.

The only objects that stand out from the usual blandness are two statues, each depicting an individual, memorials perhaps? I didn't get the occasion to read their names, but I could at least make out their general appearance. One of them was similar to a human, yet her body was connected by machinery all over, not dissimilar to my DT EXTRACTION machine. The lower half of her head was completely covered by a circular device, and what looks like an attempt to replicate rabbit ears.

The second one was a figure under a black trench coat and a quite beak-like face. There was something unnerving about her dead red eyes. Despite her humanoid body, she had several physical features in common with birds, specifically crows. I didn't feel like questioning Promestein on those was appropriate at the time, so I kept my curiosity to myself for now.

We eventually reached a door to another, smaller building.

-Here we are. This is your new working place. Since I'm quite busy with the aftermath of your arrival, I'll be leaving you alone with Lucia. You should have access to all the material you need.

With a single step, she entirely disappeared from view, as if she never was there in the first place. She keeps shrouding herself in more and more mystery. I entered the lab with a shrug, and I think that I wasn't quite prepared for what was inside.

The entire room had an occult feeling to it. Magical circles covered the ground and walls. Some huge tentacles came out of some of those. Not only that, but the room seemingly had its own atmosphere and hydrosphere. It took me several seconds before I noticed the lady standing in all of that chaos. Much like the decor itself, she had several tentacles sprouting of her body.

-So you're finally here. I've been waiting for your arrival.

She didn't even turn to greet me, too busy multitasking with her multiples arms.

-Are you Lucia?

-Indeed, I am Lucia. I am one of the original Seekers of Truth, alongside Promestein.

She finally turned around to see me. I only just then noticed her rather striking lack of clothes. I'm quite used to seeing "naked" monsters, but humans are supposedly far more prude from what I've heard.

-I already see your concerned face. Don't worry. Your personal workplace is far less messy than my own. For now at least.

One of her tentacle arm extended to a door nearby and opened it up to me. I took a peek inside my new dwelling place. It was almost entirely white, with some parcel of gray. A perfect blank slate to start over. Although I was far from enthusiastic at the idea.

I stepped into the bland room. It was large enough to work around with the DT EXTRACTION device.

Before I could even start to get myself comfortable, I felt a dreaded yet familiar sensation. Space-time was rupturing again.

-Is that…? Doctor Gaster, get away!

I was knocked away from the room by a giant and wet tentacles, seconds before a part of the room collapsed on itself. The bruises given by Lucia's rather rough saving were most likely preferable to a meeting with the thing that soon enough, entered the room.

-Hehehe….Ahaha...AHAHAHHA~!

The abomination just laughed at Lucia and I. Perhaps more in a fit of madness than actual joy. Indeed, the thing acted as if it was almost mindless, randomly clawing at itself or the air. Although it is possible that it truly desired to claw itself apart, considering how the beast looked like a forced mixture of several other beings. Its only remotely human features were a horribly disfigured and eyeless human face, alongside female breasts.

-What is that thing? It doesn't feel natural at all.

I summoned a couple of bones in an attempt to defend myself, but my fellow tentacled scientist stepped in between me and the horror.

-This is what we call an Apoptosis monster. Basically, the sentient drones of space-time itself. This one specifically, is a "Shinifa" type. With your current strength, you won't stand a chance against her.

She deflected a blow from Shinifa and countered by swatting it aside with a tentacle blow. But as soon as one was defeated, several others similar monsters crawled inside the room.

-Doctor Gaster, get away from here. Deeper in the facility you are, lesser are the chances for you to meet Apoptosis monsters.

-No way I'd let a fellow scientist fight on her own. I'll help you with those!

-You are a stubborn one indeed. I said get out of here!

I was forced quite violently out of the room, and the door was closed before I could go back. It seems like I didn't have a choice in the matter here. I started to dive deeper into the laboratory, and it quickly became clear that it wasn't just a localized outbreak. The walls of the hallway were partially broken down. Luckily, the creatures responsible for those were long gone from the hallway, probably busy fighting off the scientists.

Although the most shocking of it all was the view outside. Next to the sunrise was a veritable sun of darkness. It looked like space-time itself was distorted around this ball of pure darkness, like a hole in the fabric of reality. Notably, it seemed like it was the origins for the Apoptosis monsters.

In the front line, protecting the labs, are the various scientists working for Promestein, including Lucia. Vastly larger magic circles were used against the warp in space-time, while an army of odd-looking monsters fought back against the Apoptosis themselves. Promestein herself was standing away from the fight, overseeing it all.

At my current position, I was far enough from the conflict to not be in danger. Since the battle only just started, I decided to take a look around the room I found myself in. At first, I thought that it was a simple biology study room. But I soon took notice of something...unusual.

There was a skeleton in a tube. Noticeably, it lacked legs, it instead had its spine expand, similar to a snake's tail. Her odd didn't give me the chills as much as my next discovery. Despite being reduced to a skeleton with a neural system (and genitals, strangely), this being was still alive and conscious! Its neurons were still active, and I could clearly feel its soul.

Cautious of the still living spine, I approached the tube it was in. It was labeled "Alipheese Fateburn XVI". I did not know who this poor soul is, but I was hoping that they weren't conscious. I know myself how it feels to be stripped of all your senses for extended periods of times.

This whole room made uneasy to the point where I decided to leave the facility. The battle looked as if it was slowly fading anyway. Using a careful amount of blue magic on my own soul, I floated near the hole in space-time. Seems like Promestein had finally stepped to the front lines.

-Adramelech...Are you back again for more? This time I'm not letting you go.

Floating in front of her was a strange humanoid being. While she had most of the features a human possess normally, her skin was almost metallic, and sometimes almost cosmic. She was also surrounded by a tentacle beast that she seems to control.

-First-Class Cross-Dimensional Contact. Must proceed with erasure.

She spoke with a terrifying amount of coldness, akin to a mindless drone killing everything in sight. Yet Promestein wasn't stirred at all, in fact, her behavior was almost as cold.

-You should that by now, you stand next to no chance against me. But I know that Apoptosis like you aren't the type to give up so easily.

She wasn't even finished talking that Adramelech distorted space-time to summon multiples gigantic meteor at Promestein. They likely had enough kinetic energy to blast off the whole country off the map…

The imminent threat of death didn't last long, however. With a simple hand gesture, the redhead scientist generated a huge amount of light from the palm of her hand, obliterating all the meteors in front of her at the atomic level.

Before the light could reach the strange girl, she retaliated with the exact same of light based attack. Their great power clashed, but Adramelech was clearly outmatched, badly at that. The angel was quick to overwhelm her, with the full power of the attack slamming into her.

Despite the two attacks having clashes and having spent most of their strength countering each others, the blow was still devastating the Apoptosis monster. Most of her body was cracked or shattered. She was desperately trying to attack again, as Promestein casually walked up to her.

-F-F-F-First c-class □□□□□□□□□□□□ c-con-con-taaaaAAaaAact, must pr-□□□

-There is no such thing anymore. Now sleep!

At her words, a seal appeared on her broken body. All life signs from her stopped as if frozen in time. At the same moment, the hole in space-time disappeared, as if Adramelech's sealing caused it to collapse.

-Now that's done. Let's get back to fixing the damages, shall we?

With an handwave, the sealed Adramelech was transported towards one of the facility, while the other scientists set off to repair the labs. After most of it calmed down, I approached Promestein, with the intention of asking her about what the hell just happened.

-Umm, what exactly was that?

-Tartarus pit. Those are created when two different universes enter in contact with each other.

-So my appearance here created...this thing?

-Not exactly. Your appearance in this multiverse caused a disruption in space-time, which resulted in the destruction of a nearby timeline.

-Destruction of a timeline…?!

-It was a timeline dominated by that filthy goddess, Ilias. It was better off dead.

Her last line had a slight tint of anger, barely noticeable. But it faded as quickly as it came. I didn't even know who that Ilias was, but Promestein seemed to outright despise her.

-...So, the destruction of the timeline lead to this thing appearing?

-More precisely, it led to Adramelech attacking us for disrupting the local space-time. Her sheer power caused the creation of this Tartarus pit.

By the time we got the laboratory again, it was already mostly fixed. Seems like alchemy did wonders here.

-So, what's going to happen now?

-Nothing much. You can just go back to Lucia now. Nothing more should be happening today.

And with that, she casually walked away, back into her own dwellings I guess. As for me, I went back to Lucia.

-...Welcome back.

She was standing all alone in the lab, facing me. Well, almost alone. The tube labeled "Alipheese Fateburn XVI" was next to her, alongside the skeleton in it.

-Lucia...W-What's this..?

-...I have a lot to tell you.


	3. Chapter 3: The First Truth

I was presented with the same horrific sight I discovered earlier, but this time I hoped for answers.

-I guess you noticed by now. This neural system is still alive and conscious.

Well, it looks like my fears were justified then. This creature really has been forced to this pitiful state for all this time.

-...Who was that Alipheese Fateburn XVI?

-This is a very long story, but I'll try to be brief. Long ago, existed three main races in our world. Monsters, normal organisms twisted by dark magic into a more humanoid form. Angels, beings purely made out of light magic living in Heaven. And humans, neutral organisms that developed themselves on their own, without the need for dark or light magic.

Magic monsters and organic humans, huh. Not that different from my own world.

-This Alipheese Fateburn XVI was the last member of a family of extremely powerful monsters, who ruled over all of monsterkind. The remains of the last "Monster Lord" are right in front of you.

So their roles weren't much different than King Asgore's role. Ruling using their overwhelming power.

-Who in the world had the power to reduce such a powerful monster to such a pitiful state…?

At that moment, she let out a nervous chuckle.

-Obviously, it was our current leader and the strongest being of this universe. Promestein herself.

Despite her otherwise calmness, her tentacles were visibly nervous.

-She used to be a regular angel, under the orders of a so-called "Goddess of Light". However, let's just say that their ideologies clashed. The redhead angel couldn't support the Goddess' obsession with teaching humans false lies to keep control over them.

-I must say that I can understand her anger there…

-After centuries of pretending to work for her, she had set up a plan to take her down. She had managed to extract DNA from the Dark Goddess, the dark magic equivalent to the Goddess of Light. Of course, this increased her power tremendously. But it wasn't enough.

She stopped a second to summon two clouds of what I presume is magic. One of a unsettlingly dark purple, the other of an uncanny white.

-One cannot become a god simply by borrowing part of the power of another god. She knew very well this fact. Instead, she had to combine a great amount of dark and light magic. She already had the dark magic, now she needed a powerful source of light magic.

-The Goddess herself?

-False. At that point, the Goddess had already been absorbed by one of Promestein's old allies. She needed another powerful source of light magic to overthrow said ally. The source of power she was aiming was a human. Specifically, an half-angel boy, born from one of the Goddess' first creation. I think you can guess what happened to the poor boy.

-...

Sacrificing humans, young ones at that, solely for power. I won't hide that I am guilty of such crime myself, but I'm far from proud of it. I was starting to get really worried about what she was going to do with Determination.

-The rest is history, I guess. With her overwhelming power, both the Goddess of Light and her betrayed ally quickly fell at her hands. With almost omnipotent power, she could enforce her ambitions in the whole world. Those who sympathized with her goals, like me, were treated as allies, and we were given all the equipment needed for our researches. Those who were stubborn enough to cling to their olds beliefs ended up like Alipheese.

-They ended up as mere test subjects… No wonder she has all the resources and power she possesses now.

-It isn't a hyperbole to claim that the whole universe is her, or rather, our playground at this point.

Considering how the entire surface world was reduced to a wasteland from a whim, I didn't doubt her words for even a second. I took a few seconds to integrate all these information into my mind.

-...Why are you telling me this? It doesn't seem like this is the kind of information that such a society would want me to know.

-Everyone in any position of power here has been conditioned to accept those facts. I just thought that you knowing would be better before you take any serious decision.

Right after this, her gaze quickly turned at the various corners of the room, mostly where magic seals were installed. Upon taking a closer look, I noticed that most of the tentacles randomly placed in the room were seemingly hiding various observation devices. To an outside observer, this may look like an accidental movement of the summoned tentacles, but given the circumstances, it is more probable to be a deliberate action from Lucia to avoid being spied on while avoiding suspicions.

-...I used to believe in her ideals, but her search for knowledge has gone to dangerous ends. Not just for this universe, but soon enough, others too.

Since she was one of the original Seeker of Truth, she must have been one of the closest people to Promestein's original ideals. While I do not know how much time has passed since then, it seems clear that it took her a large amount of time to change her heart.

-Well, If this managed to make you change your mind, I'd also have a request to ask of you.

Even though she didn't say any more than this sentence, it didn't take me long to understand the meaning behind it.

-If it's what I'm thinking it is, I'm afraid that I can't afford to disobey her in this situation.

-Of course. In this universe, it's impossible to fight back against her like that. She would find us and eliminate our plans too quickly. Rather, keeping up with our masquerade of loyalty towards her would be better in the long run.

-But what can we do? Building any kind of weapon against her would be impossible in those working conditions.

-Promestein already commissioned you to work on the specific tool we need, didn't she? While I don't think that the DT Extraction machine is strong enough on its own to be a threat to Promestein, it could let us escape to another universe and, perhaps, seek help.

Her plan made sense, at least for what was possible for us. Pretending to work for her by building the machine as intended, but using it to escape this damned universe before she can use it for less than honorable deeds. I guessed that I would be able to use the machine for this purpose without modifying it too badly.

-Alright. I yield. Although preferably only if we can't find a compromise with her first.

-Mmh. Much more determined persons before you tried to compromise with her. I don't particularly fancy your chances.

And with that, she opened the door and stepped outside.

-I have to report a few minor discoveries. I'll let you finally settle in your lab.

In just about an hour, I had changed of goal and side twice. I wasn't even completely sure of my stance even then, due to how little I knew about this world. Which is why escaping it seemed like the best course of action for now.

I took a look outside the window of my laboratory. The zone affected by the Tartarus became an unsettling purple. Maybe the space-time anomaly wasn't as controlled as they had me believe. I would have loved to take a look, but the area looked extremely well guarded. I'll have to satisfy my curiosity later, then.


	4. Chapter 4: Clash

-Hmm...Indeed it is true that you work awfully fast, although less fast than your successor. For such a complex machinery to be so far in its development in a single week is impressive.

Promestein stood there, inspecting the skeleton of my machinery while drinking a suspicious white liquid. Since that meeting with Lucia, my talks with Promestein became much tenser. I hoped with all of my SOUL that she wouldn't notice it.

-I also added the ability for the Machine to fuses light and dark magic into itself for power use, as you requested.

...Of course, her plans were to use this function to fuse both Determination and Chaos together. But for myself, it gave me a reliable power source to use in order to escape this place.

Although I still wanted to make sure of something before.

-So once this is over, I'll go back to my original timeline…?

She didn't even look me in the eyes, drinking while staring at my contraption instead.

-I'm afraid that this isn't possible, dear Gaster.

-Impossible? You managed to put me back together and bring me to this foreign multiverse. How can't you just bring me back?

-I most likely forgot to inform you, but I'm also surprised that you didn't realize by now.

As to visualize her thoughts, she summoned a few dozen glowing balls of light.

-You aren't just a single Gaster that we brought back. Since you were shattered through ALL of space-time, your existence wasn't limited to a single universe.

Showcasing this, I saw a vaguely humanoid figure shattered across all the balls of light in her hands.

-However, as you know, there is an infinite amount of universes. Your case certainly wasn't unique.

-It's...true, I haven't thought about this much. I didn't felt any presence beside my own when I was there.

-That's because there wasn't any. Other than the occasional being who could transcend space-time coming into existence, you weren't able to see anyone other than as static images in each universe.

Once again, humanoid figures shattered through all of the light orbs. The bits were more or less uniformly spread all over.

-So once that more like you suffered the same fate, your minds didn't stay separate. Instead, they fused into one.

The light show disappeared as she turned her gaze to me.

-You aren't a single being lost in another multiverse, Doctor Gaster. You are a gigantic amalgamation of an infinite amount of Gasters and of all the other beings who fell into an active CORE.

She managed to keep her completely emotionless and cold glare towards me as her words shattered my sense of self. A simple amalgamation, eh? Like those abominations created by my "successor"...

-Your memories and personality most likely do not match any of the timelines that lack their W.D. Gaster. Even then, there would be an infinite amount of timeline where you still do not exist. To put the nail in the metaphorical coffin, the fact that you stopped the anti-chaotization process midway makes your body way too unstable for yet another trans-multiversal transfer. So I cannot allow you to go back yet if that is what you were about to ask.

I was shaking, maybe fear, anger, or both. Either way, I had to control my emotions and not do something I'd regret.

-...Why do I only learn of this now?

-You never asked about this, and I didn't promise that you could go back normally to your timeline, just that I would help you free your kind. You will have to free your kind without being able to join them I'm afraid.

Despite trying to sound sorry, she walked away without a care.

-By the way, when do you except this project to be over? It's not like we are in lack of time, but I'd rather get to the main part of the project soon.

-Uh...Well...I-I should be done in… a week at most, but most likely five days.

I was very close to lashing out at her, but I knew better. I needed just a little more time. I had to endure this seemingly totalitarian system just a little more.

-I see. Well, I'll be leaving you to your affairs for now.

She finished her drink and immediately warped...somewhere. As long as it was far from my workplace, I didn't care. Although it did worry me how her steps didn't seem like they were limited by space and time. Was she like those beings with high determination, unbound by space-time? It's not like I had time to test this theory anyway and I really hoped I wouldn't be forced to.

From time to time, I heard what appeared to be fighting noises. However, as I wasn't informed of any attacks on the facility. I assumed them to be from the previously captured Apoptosis monster. She probably recovered from the seal and was attempting to break free. A tiny subconscious part of my mind wished that she would have succeeded.

Despite lacking any of my previous blueprints, I managed to rebuild my creation. I originally built it as a harbinger of hope for my kin. It could endlessly extract determination from our obtained SOULs. Even if we didn't exactly know what to do with it at the time, it would at least give us the impression that we were getting close.

Now that lizard girl tried to execute this idea of using Determination to make monster SOULs last and use them as a replacement for the 7th SOUL. But she was too foolish to save them. She stole my technology while barely knowing anything about it and immediately tested it on dozens of innocent monsters. Disgusting.

I only had to inform Promestein about it now. Lucia already knew it was completed and was waiting for Promestein to leave her laboratory, considering that's where she keeps the most important dose of Light and Dark magic. We doubted that Promestein would have attempted any experiment with the machinery so early on.

I stepped near the door of her main laboratory. It was my first time actively meeting her at her laboratory. While the door wasn't open, I could hear a conversation with someone. But it didn't sound like any of the scientists I met before, or a scientist at all for that matter. I didn't even detect a second SOUL with her.

-...I shall take care of that soon enough. We aren't in a hurry after all.

The second, mysterious voice answered on a somehow much more stern, cold and impatient voice.

-We're just wasting time by waiting. We have a lot of work to do.

-And I have a lot of work to do to make sure that nothing will go horribly wrong and blow up in our faces. Remember that I currently still have the power to put you in your place.

-You don't want me to get angry and starts gathering EXP with your alternate selves, don't you? I have slain much greater than those weaker you before.

-Hehehe… Those meaningless words won't affect me, demonic manchild.

These two last words finally made me realize something horrifying. A SOULless "demonic manchild". I had seen such being in my own multiverse. What was the Fallen Child doing here, with Promestein of all people?! This abstract devilish fiend had slain all of the timelines of my multiverse, multiples times. When it stopped, I thought it had left this world forever. But I wasn't excepting it here, a whole multiverse away from home.

-I will go and kill some timelines then. I'm sure a lot of them could use some cleaning.

I couldn't take it anymore. That was my mental limit. I had the devil in person a few meters away from me. All my inhibitions dropped to zero and my thirst for revenge skyrocketed.

With my left hand, I used my blue magic on the only SOUL of the area, pinning the owner to a wall. With my right hand, I summoned a Blaster to forcibly blast open the door.

-...Promestein…!

I wasn't fast enough, as the child had already fled the room. Only Promestein was left, who was kneeling due to the effect of my blue magic.

-Well well...Aren't you a little pushy? I would have come to your laboratory if you asked…

Despite the current situation, her speech and behavior were as cold and uncaring as always. this fact managed to make me even angrier.

-Why was that thing here? How did you know about it?!

-Haven't I already told you? I have observed your Multiverse for a long time. Such a character wouldn't have managed to go unnoticed by my team and me.

Still staring at me, the scientist casually got up despite my magic pulling her downward. It didn't seem to affect her at all.

-Admittedly, that sudden attack from you did catch me off guard. But that won't happen again.

-W-What? How?!

I was putting all of my magic on her soul. Her clothes and hair were wildly flailing towards the direction I was focusing my magic on. Yet she wasn't even budging, instead slowly approaching towards my direction.

-Anyway, my business with this demon child doesn't concern you in the slightest. Go back to your work if this is the reason you came here.

-Do you even know what they have done? Of course, you do…

-Means matters little, as long as they don't get in the way of the goal. I have the demon in check if they want to get in my way.

-Even if the goal is noble, if you're too Determined you may end up causing more harm than good when trying to achieve it… Which is why I'm going to stop this right here!

I summoned a couple of blasters around the room, all aimed at her. Despite the fact that I knew I stood no chance, I was also aware that she wouldn't attempt to kill me yet. She needed me.

-Relying on such barbaric methods so soon? Alright…

Her right hand was glowing. She was preparing an attack right on me, most likely the same that previously decimated that Apoptosis. Before she could fire up, I aimed all the blasters at her hand and fired.

Her whole body was covered with a huge blast and the surroundings filled with smoke. But surely, that wasn't enough to kill her. I quickly used blue magic on my SOUL, knocking me against the wall and out of the way of a potential attack. Indeed, a large flash of light flew right by me as soon as I hit the wall. Drops of sweat dripped down my skull just by imagining the damage I would have taken if that hit me.

-Mmph...You're more crafty in a fight than I thought. But…

With a finger snap, the ground started shaking. Something was coming toward me. Suddenly, a huge tentacle broke through the floor and smashed my body against the ceiling, breaking through it and sending me outside the facility.

-You're quite weak. It doesn't matter how smart you are if you can't apply it in a fight!

I once again used by blue magic in order to keep me from flying off too far. Promestein then flew out of the hole to meet me outside.

Despite the blow being visibly casual from her, some of my bones were cracked already.

-U-Ugh… That huge tentacle... Was that your true strength?

-Not even close. I don't want to kill you yet. Although I only need your mind. If I have to break your body, I will.

From her giant appendages, a bright light was accumulating. I couldn't afford to take a full power hit from that thing. Before I could come up with a way to escape...

-...Don't move!

...A sudden slice in space-time went right through Promestein's tentacle, dropping it to the ground and freeing me. Both of us turned towards the source of the attack.

-...Lucia...So even you turned against me, huh?

Lucia stood a few feet near us, her tentacles attached to the DT Extraction machine, the device still steaming off from its recent use.

-...Seems like you guessed it too late. Just a few seconds too late.

Behind us, the slice tore the space-time continuum of the multiverse. I could faintly see a familiar landscape through it.

-I see… It looks like you finished the machine already. And it's working wonderfully well.

Promestein's voice betrayed some degree of frustration at the current events despite the success of the experiment.

-However, if you'll excuse me, I'll have to take this away from you.

The scientist's tentacle regrew and charged towards the machine.

-I didn't come all the way here to deliver this thing to you, Promestein!

Lucia dashed right at the machine, all while dragging me with her tentacles. Both of us were tackled by Lucia right towards the gap in space-time. My vision faded as we were transported far away from Promestein's reaching appendage.


End file.
